Hammons receives industry service award

17th Oct 2006

Hotel industry veteran Mr. John Q. Hammons was
presented with the 2006 IAHI Kemmons Wilson Service Award during the 2006
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) Americas Investors & Leadership
Conference held October 4-6 in Toronto.IAHI, the Owners’ Association of IHG, bestows the award annually in honor
of the late Mr. Kemmons Wilson, the hospitality industry pioneer who
created the Holiday Inn brand in 1952 and launched the IAH to represent
his franchisees in 1955. The award is presented to a hospitality leader
who serves their community and embodies the standards and beliefs set
forward by Mr. Wilson. Mr. Hammons is founder, chairman, and chief
executive officer of Springfield, Mo.-based John Q. Hammons Hotels &
Resorts, LLC.

Mr. Hammons, a leading industry innovator for nearly half of a century,
heads the nation’s leading independent builder, developer, owner, and
manager of upscale, full-service hotels, resorts and suites. The company’s
70 hotels are situated near major demand generators such as office parks,
airports and universities. Among the various hotel flags, Mr. Hammons’
company owns 12 Holiday Inn properties.

“Mr. Hammons’ foresight, dedication to his employees and guests, and years
of nurturing and supporting worthwhile causes make him the perfect
individual to receive this honor,” says IAHI Chairman Michael Hoffman,
president of Turf Hotels, Inc. in Albany, NY.

Mr. Hammons entered the hotel industry in 1958 and joined Mr. Roy E.
Winegardner to purchase the first 10 Holiday Inn franchises from Mr.
Kemmons Wilson. Winegardner & Hammons Incorporated (WHI) of Cincinnati, a
hotel development company, was formed in 1961. By the late 1960s, WHI had
constructed nearly three-dozen Holiday Inn hotels. Mr. Hammons formed John
Q. Hammons Hotels in 1969.

Mr. Hammons has been recognized over the years not only for his work as an
hotelier, but for his philanthropic efforts and initiatives. The Missouri
native has donated more than $100 million to the city of Springfield and
other organizations over the last 50 years. Some of his most notable
efforts include funding the Hammons Heart Institute and Hammons Life Line
helicopter for St. John’s Regional Health Center in Springfield; the
Hammons Student Center, Hammons Fountains, and Juanita K. Hammons Hall for
the Performing Arts at Missouri State University; the Hammons School of
Architecture at Drury University; and Hammons Field, home to the St. Louis
Cardinals? Double-A Minor League team, the Springfield Cardinals.

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Hammons is the third recipient of the IAHI Kemmons Wilson Service Award. ——-